


a thoughtless moment's blessing

by EllaYuki



Series: prince and tailor au [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Crown Prince Victor, IDK if it counts as a kind of, M/M, Meet-Cute, POV Katsuki Yuuri, Pre-Relationship, Tailor's Assistant Yuuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 18:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10600113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaYuki/pseuds/EllaYuki
Summary: in a kingdom where touching the crown prince calls for the death sentence, yuuri, a simple tailor's apprentice, saves prince victor's life and fully expects to be executed for it.





	

_oh no._

that's the only thought that passes through his head. he opens his eyes, just a bit, just enough to see the shock of silver hair in front of them, and then he squeezes them closed again.

_oh no, oh no, oh no._

a shocked kind of silence has settled around him, and yuuri can hear his own heart pounding.

'umm...' he hears, voice hesitant, from the person in his arms, and he lets go immediately, as if burned. the person lifts their weight off of him and yuuri scrambles to put a bit of distance between them. he kneels, bows, forehead pressed to the ground, every nerve ending screaming at him. 

'please forgive me, your highness!' he begs, voice trembling as much as his body. 

he’s gone and done it. his body had acted on its own. he’d seen the way the horse had startled at something and surged forward, carriage and all, straight for where the prince was standing admiring a flower arrangement, and he just moved.

but in saving the crown prince’s life, he's also signed his own death sentence.

no one is allowed to touch the prince. _ever._ by law, only his close family and the select few carefully chosen to attend to him (his personal manservant, his personal medic, his personal seamstress, his personal guard), are allowed to physically touch him with other royals and members of the aristocracy being temporarily granted permission on special occasions.

peasants like yuuri (who is a mere tailor’s apprentice), obviously, are forbidden upon pain of death, no matter the circumstance.

so yeah, he's dead.

 _but,_ yuuri thinks to himself as he keeps his deep bow, _at least prince victor will be okay._

a commotion starts back up, the royal guard finally snapping out of their shock and surrounding their charge and the still prostrate yuuri, swords out and pointing at the bowing man.

one of them grabs yuuri, pulls him up intending to tie him up, when the prince speaks up.

‘stop!’ he orders, and the soldier hesitates. ‘leave him be.’

‘but, your highness, he broke the law. he touched you so he will be executed.’ the guard is hesitant, but he does not release yuuri.

when he speaks again, victor’s tone is absolute.

‘he was doing _your_ job. you will unhand him. _now._ i will not have a man killed for saving my life.’

still terrified, yuuri keeps his head down, eyes trained on the ground in front of his beat-up boots, and says nothing. he dares not hope he might actually get out of this with his head still attached to the rest of his body.

footsteps approach, shiny, silver boots entering his field of vision, and he tries to swallow past the knot in his throat.

‘what is your name?’ the prince asks, and it takes yuuri a moment to realise that yes, the prince is actually addressing him.

‘yuuri, your highness,’ he manages to choke out, a flush burning his face. ‘katsuki yuuri.’

‘yuuri,’ prince victor repeats, sounding almost thoughtful. ‘like my youngest brother.’ yuuri doesn’t have anything to say to that. the prince continues. ‘thank you, yuuri.’

yuuri scrambles to bow, says, ‘oh, no, your highness, you do not have to thank me. you are my prince, i could not have let any harm come to you.’ and hopes to god he won’t be executed just for being so bold as to directly address the crown prince of the realm.

fingers come up and gently touch his chin, applying enough pressure to lift yuuri’s face up. it takes all the courage he can muster to look up, meet the prince’s gaze. and his breath catches in his throat. the prince’s eyes, blue-green and sparkling, gentle and curious, are even more beautiful up-close, and yuuri is completely entranced.

 _‘oh,’_ the prince says. just that, and it’s breathy, almost surprised.

for a few moments, neither says anything, just looking at each other, the world falling away around them.

then, like a thunderclap, the bubble breaks when the guard still holding yuuri clears his throat. yuuri takes a sharp breath and bows his head again. bites his lip and tries not to panic.

‘your highness,’ another guard starts, ‘what should we do? the law is the law…’

victor has yet to stop staring at the bowed head in front of him, but he finds his voice.

‘i think, in cases of life and death, even the law can be bent. he saved my life. he will be rewarded, not punished.’ then, he turns to yuuri. ‘tell me, yuuri, what is it you do for a living?’

yuuri, still not daring to hope, and still a bit dazed from gazing into victor’s eyes, says in a quiet voice, ‘i’m but a tailor’s apprentice, your highness. and you need not reward me. i’m just happy that your are safe.’

victor lets out a soft chuckle, then says, ‘nonsense. which tailor?’

‘my father, katsuki toshiya.’

‘i see,’ victor says, thoughtful again. then, lightning-quick, his mood changes and he turns on his heel.

‘well, yuuri, thank you again. i owe you a great debt.’ yuuri opens his mouth to speak, to deny, but he’s cut off. ‘men, let him go already, we need to go back to the palace, it’s getting late.’

and just like that, he leaves, saying no more and fully expecting his orders to be obeyed. yuuri’s finally released, and he bows deeply to victor’s retreating back. he’s still bewildered and breathless and somehow, miraculously, still alive.

~

(he almost dies of a heart attack the next day when he gets a missive from the palace, requesting his presence.

and another when victor announces yuuri will be his new personal tailor.

because somehow, his life has turned into something like a fairy tale without him noticing.)


End file.
